This application relates to reconfigurable computer systems, and more specifically to computer systems which can dynamically reconfigure peripheral configurations.
Innovative Peripheral Re-Initialization
The preferred embodiment discloses a computer system in which various system peripherals are automatically re-initialized after being hot-swapped. The re-initialization includes accommodation of any required master/slave relationships between the peripherals.
For the default boot configuration, the hardware places the IDE controllers into Legacy Mode, and the IDE channel controller in the portable computer becomes the "Primary IDE channel". The device in the left bay (where the dedicated hard drive resides) becomes the master device on the Primary IDE channel, and the device in the right bay (the Multibay) becomes the slave device on the Primary IDE channel (if the device is present). If the system was docked when it booted, the IDE channel controller in the docking station becomes the "Secondary IDE channel". In this case, any device in the left Multibay in the docking station becomes the Slave device on the Secondary channel, while any device found in the right Multibay in the docking station becomes the Master device on the Secondary channel.
For the correct master/slave relationships to be established, all of the IDE devices must be powered down, restarted, and reset. As the devices come back on line, the individual IDE controllers on each device are able to see each other and thereby configure themselves in the probper master/slave configurations. This can be accomplished without shutting down, suspending, or otherwise interrupting the operation of the computer system.